THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



473 



and difficult. In the first place there are five iron 

 cylinders, each beinof connected with the steam 

 boiler by a pipe for the purpose of obtaining a 

 supply of steara, and again by means of another 

 pipe a passage is formed by which the spirit passes 

 into the rectifying boiler, a circular iron con- 

 struction which stands about six feet high, and is 

 probably from four to five feet in diameter. It is 

 divided into two equal compartments, connected 

 by means of brass pipes with stop taps. From 

 the top of this boiler rises a formidable looking 

 column, known as the rectifier, through which 

 three brass pipes pass backwards and forwards 

 from side to side, rising gradually to the top. From 

 the upper plates of the apparatus the spirit is ob- 

 tained at from GO to 70 degrees over proof — the 

 best running off at about the thirteenth plate from 

 the top. The discharge is made through a glass 

 case, which is kept locked by the excise officer, 

 and from hence the spirit passes into the receiver. 



But to return to the process. We left the sliced 

 roots undergoing fermentation in the capacious 

 vats. When they have been sufficiently acted upon 

 by the acid, they are taken out by means of nets 

 fixed on the ends of long poles, and placed in one 

 or other of the iron cylinders before alluded to. 

 Here they are exposed to the action of steam, which 

 drives the spirit in vapour through the connecting 

 pipes into the upper compartment of the boiler, in 

 which it is condensed. It is then allowed to pass 

 into tlie lower compartment, in which, by means 

 of steam, it is again converted into vapour and 

 rises up through the plates in the column resting 

 on the top of the boiler, and being condensed in a 

 worm tube it is delivered at the safe as above de- 

 scribed. The water left in the lower part of the 

 adjoining cylinder is then drawn off, the refuse 

 roots removed, and the process repeated. Alto- 

 gether the number of men and boys employed in 

 the distillery is 28 — 14 in the day and a like num- 

 ber during the night, as it is absolutely necessary 

 to keep the work constantly going on. M. Leplay, 

 a Frenchman, is the inventor of the system. 



Having described the process we now come to 

 look at the undertaking in a commercial and agri- 

 cultural point of view. The establishment of such 

 a concern in* small place like Ruddington is an 

 event of the greatest importance, notwithstanding 

 the number of hands employed being, compara- 

 tively speaking, small. The erection of the pre- 

 mises has been going on during the late season of 

 depressed trade, and many of the poor stocking 

 weavers of the village have found temporary em- 

 ployment in connection therewith as labourers, 

 which has enabled them to avert the hard alterna- 

 tive of applying for parochial aid. The constant 

 employment of some twenty-eight hands will also 

 add materially to the resources of the villagers. 

 We say constant employment, because, though 

 the process of distillation will only be carried on 

 during the winter months, the hands will in summer 

 take the place on the farm of the extraneous 

 labourers which at that season every farmer has 

 always to employ. The effect will be to increase the 

 settled and permanent population of the parish, and 

 ensure to that increase a continuance of the labour 

 necessary for earning a comfortable sustenance. 



As a commercial speculation we think the 

 spirited proprietor of the undertaking has every 

 reason to be sanguine of the most complete success 

 crowning his efforts. The spirit produced is, as a 

 general rule, from 60 to 70 degrees over proof, and 

 is considered by our townsman, Mr. Parr, chymist, 

 to be equal to any description already in use for all 

 pharmaceutical and chemical purposes. We un- 

 derstand that Mr. Parr is now engaged in con- 

 ducting a series of experiments with the spirit, the 

 result of which will be made known as soon as 

 completed. The cheapness at which the spirit can 

 be produced will operate as an inducement to con- 

 sumers to use it as extensively as possible, and 

 there can be little doubt that so soon as the merits 

 of the spirit become generally known there will be 

 a universal and continually increasing demand. At 

 present, we are informed that the production of 

 spirit at this distillery is at the rate of some 12 or 

 14 gallons from a ton of roots, and M. Crolard, 

 the manager, speaking from experience, says that 

 when the works are thoroughly completed and in 

 good working-order he will be able to produce 20 

 gallons per ton. Calculating the expenditure on a 

 liberal scale, and estimating the roots to cost 18s. 

 per ton, the sale of the spirit at 2s. to 2s. 6d. per 

 gallon, proof, according to quality, will not only 

 cover cost of production, but leave a small margin 

 of profit, even supposing the residue of the roots 

 to be of no value, which, however, is far from being 

 the case, as we shall have occasion to show. The 

 quantity of roots used will average from 15 to 18 

 tons per day, and the season for distillation ex- 

 tending over about seven months in the year, the 

 quantity used annually will exceed 3,000 tons, so 

 that the distillery will form a very important addi- 

 tion to the demand for the agricultural produce of 

 the district. The quantity of spirit produced from 

 the above quantity of roots will not be less, at a 

 moderate computation, than 50,000 gallons. 



But in calculating the prospective profits or 

 losses of such an undertaking, we must not over- 

 look the residue of the roots after the sugar has 

 been extracted and converted into spirit. For the 

 fattening of cattle this residue is held by some 

 parties to be as valuable as the roots themselves. 

 So far as experience goes it would appear to sup- 

 port even this extreme view ; but at any rate the 

 value at present put upon this residue is some 12s. 

 per ton. When used along with barley flour, from 

 hinder ends, worth about 253. per quarter, or bean 

 flour and cut chaff, the cattle feed upon it with 

 amazing rapidity. The quantity of barley flour 

 given is about 7 lbs. per day, valued at 3^d. On 

 Wednesday, the 24th ult., three fine beasts fed in 

 this way were exhibited in the Nottingham market, 

 where they attracted much attention, and were 

 quickly bought up at good prices. We are assured 

 that cattle fed with this residue are ready for the 

 market in nearly one-third less time than those 

 treated in the usual way, which in itself is a very 

 important consideration to a farmer. At present 

 Sir Thomas Parkyns has nearly 100 head of cattle 

 being fed on the residue of distilled roots, so that 

 in a short time their ])recise value will be placed 

 beyond a doubt. One peculiar property of this 

 residue ought not to be overlooked. While the 



